Printing device, printing control method and recording medium

ABSTRACT

A LAN control unit receives print data from a client device or the like. An input job storage unit registered on a hard disk a series of PDL commands included in the print data received. An input job queue management unit registers print job specifying information specifying a print job represented by the print data received to the end of an input job queue. A PDL interpretation/execution unit successively executes from the head of the series of PDL commands stored on the hard disk device. When it is determined that the PDL command that has been executed is a re-execution unnecessary command, the PDL interpretation/execution unit overwrites the PDL command stored on the hard disk with a NOP command.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2010-208222, filed Sep. 16, 2010, and Japanese Patent Application No.2011-085973, filed Apr. 8, 2011, the entire disclosures of which areincorporated by reference herein.

FIELD

This application relates generally to a printing device, a printingcontrol method and a recording medium, capable of interruption printing.

BACKGROUND

Today, printing systems are utilized in which host equipment (a clientdevice) such as a host computer and printing devices such assingle-function printing devices and so-called all-in-one printingdevices are connected via a network. In such a system, there is a highprobability that while a print job requested from host equipment with aprinting device is being processed, the next print job from differenthost equipment will be supplied to this printing device.

When print jobs compete, control is possible that does not acceptprocessing of other print jobs until print processing of thefirst-arrived print job is concluded. However, in this case when theprint system is viewed as a whole, efficiency declines and the systemhas poor user-friendliness. That is to say, while a print job requiringtime until printing is completed is being processed first, printprocessing must wait even for small-volume print jobs needing shortprinting times. Consequently, when the printing system is considered asa whole, this is a system with poor efficiency as the number of printjobs in a waiting-to-print status increases.

In addition, users must wait a long time until print processing iscompleted when a print job requiring considerable time until the end ofprinting is processed first even when the desire is to urgentlyaccomplish printing.

In consideration of the above problem, Unexamined Japanese PatentApplication KOKAI Publication No. H10-177464 (hereafter referred to as“Patent Literature 1”) and Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAIPublication No. H11-312062 (hereafter referred to as “Patent Literature2”) have been disclosed. Even these Patent Literatures are inventions ofprinting devices having interruption processing for jobs during printprocesses, interruption printing process of urgent print jobs, areinstatement process for interrupted print jobs and an interruptionprinting function for executing restarted print processes forinterrupted print jobs.

First, Patent Literature 1 discloses a printing control device havingtwo operation modes, namely a normal mode in which print jobs describedin non-page-independent Page Description Language (hereafter called“PDL”) received from a client device are stored in memory, each page ofimages is created in succession, and the created images are supplied tothe printing device and printed, and a non-printing mode in which imagesare not supplied to the printing device, such that when printing issuspended, a printing restart page is calculated, and when a printingrestart signal is received at the time of restarting printing, thesuspended print job is processed from the beginning with reference tothe job memory unit, and the device operates in non-printing mode untilthe printing restart page is reached and operates in normal mode fromthe printing restart page on.

In addition, Patent Literature 2 discloses an invention wherein themethod of restarting an interrupted print job is to store the input jobdata, interpret from the start the suspended print job data whenrestarting, and to execute print requests for each page, but redundantprinting is prevented by adopting a method in which print requestsrelating to pages already printed are invalid and only print requestsfor unprinted pages are valid.

However, with both devices, input print jobs are stored and when aninterruption request is generated, the job currently being printed isinterrupted at the end of a page, and the number of pages alreadyprinted or the number of the page to be restarted are stored, and afterthe interruption process of the print job is accomplished, interruptionprinting is executed. Moreover, with both devices, when interruptionprinting ends, command interpretation from the head of the interruptedprint job is executed, and a reinstatement/restart process is executedthat restarts the print process from the unprinted pages withoutexecuting printing of pages already printed. In this print jobreinstatement/restart process, because command interpretation isexecuted from the head of the interrupted print job and a print image iscreated, the interpretation execution and print image creation areaccomplished even for pages that have already been printed and output,requiring a long time until resumption of the print process.

Consequently, when the interruption printing function is used, time isneeded to reinstate the interrupted print job, and as a result thisbecomes an impediment when using the interruption print function.Accordingly, a printing device is desired that is capable ofaccomplishing in a short time a reinstatement/restart process from whenexecution of the interruption printing process ends until printing ofthe interrupted print job is restarted.

Furthermore, with Patent Literature 1, a method is disclosed in which aPDL command creating an image hard-wise is not executed to shorten jobreinstatement time, but in this case, circuit size becomes large and inaddition logic composition becomes complex, causing costs to rise.Consequently, a printing device is desired that has a relatively simplestructure yet is capable of improving performance during interruptionreinstatement.

In consideration of the foregoing problems, it is an object of thepresent invention to provide a printing device, a print control methodand a program, with a relatively simple structure and capable ofimproving performance during interruption reinstatement.

SUMMARY

In order to achieve the above object, a printing device according to afirst aspect of the present invention is a printing device that executesa print job based on print data supplied from electronic equipmentconnected via a network, and permits interruption by another print jobduring execution of the supplied print job, the printing devicecomprising:

a receiver which receives the print data which includes a series of PDLcommands from the electronic equipment;

a PDL command registration unit which registers the series of PDLcommands included in the received print data into a PDL command memoryunit;

a print job control unit which, when the print data is received,registers print job specifying information that specifies the print jobrepresented by the received print data to the end of an input job queue;and

a command execution unit which executes the print job by successivelyexecuting the series of PDL commands stored in the PDL command memoryunit from the head;

wherein each of the series of PDL commands can be classified as either(a) a re-execution necessary command that is necessary to execute againwhen a print job halted by the interruption process is restarted, or (b)a re-execution unnecessary command that is unnecessary to execute againwhen a print job halted by the interruption process is restarted;

wherein the command execution unit (a) judges whether the executed PDLcommand is a re-execution unnecessary command when each of the PDLcommands is executed, and (b) overwrites the executed PDL command storedin the PDL command memory unit with a NOP command indicating noprocessing to be done if the executed PDL command is determined to be are-execution unnecessary command;

wherein the print job control unit controls the command execution unitto start execution of a print job specified by the print job specifyinginformation at the head of the input job queue when the end of executionof a print job by the command execution unit is detected; and

wherein, when an instruction for the interruption process is detected,the print job control unit (a) registers the print job specifyinginformation which specifies the print job for the interruption processinto the head of the input job queue, and (b) controls the commandexecution unit to halt the print job being executed and start executionof the print job for the interruption process.

In order to achieve the above object, a printing control methodaccording to a second aspect of the present invention is a printingcontrol method executed by a printing device that executes a print jobbased on print data supplied from electronic equipment connected via anetwork, and permits an interruption process by another print job duringexecution of the supplied print job, the printing control methodcomprising:

a receiver step which receives the print data which includes a series ofPDL commands from the electronic equipment;

a PDL command registration step which reregisters the series of PDLcommands included in the received print data into a PDL command memoryunit;

a print job control step which, when the print data is received,registers print job specifying information that specifies the print jobrepresented by the received print data to the end of an input job queue;and

a command execution step which executes the print job by successivelyexecuting the series of PDL commands stored in the PDL command memoryunit from the head;

wherein each of the series of PDL commands can be classified as either(a) a re-execution necessary command that is necessary to execute againwhen a print job halted by the interruption process is restarted, or (b)a re-execution unnecessary command that is unnecessary to execute againwhen a print job halted by the interruption process is restarted;

wherein the command execution step (a) judges whether the executed PDLcommand is a re-execution unnecessary command when each of the PDLcommands is executed, and (b) overwrites the executed PDL command storedin the PDL command memory unit with a NOP command indicating noprocessing to be done if the executed PDL command is determined to be are-execution unnecessary command;

wherein the print job control step controls to start execution of aprint job specified by the print job specifying information at the headof the input job queue when the end of execution of a print job by thecommand execution step is detected; and

wherein, when an instruction for the interruption process is detected,the print job control step (a) registers the print job specifyinginformation which specifies the print job for the interruption processinto the head of the input job queue, and (b) controls to halt the printjob being executed and start execution of the print job for theinterruption process.

In order to achieve the above object, a recording medium according to athird aspect of the present invention is a non-transitorycomputer-readable recording medium having a program stored thereon forcontrolling a control unit of a printing device that executes a printjob based on print data supplied from electronic equipment connected viaa network, and permits interruption by another print job duringexecution of the supplied print job, wherein the program controls thecontrol unit to function as:

a receiver which receives the print data which includes a series of PDLcommands from the electronic equipment;

a PDL command registration unit which registers the series of PDLcommands included in the received print data into a PDL command memoryunit;

a print job control unit which, when the print data is received,registers print job specifying information that specifies the print jobrepresented by the received print data to the end of an input job queue;and

a command execution unit which executes the print job by successivelyexecuting the series of PDL commands stored in the PDL command memoryunit from the head;

wherein each of the series of PDL commands can be classified as either(a) a re-execution necessary command that is necessary to execute againwhen a print job halted by the interruption process is restarted, or (b)a re-execution unnecessary command that is unnecessary to execute againwhen a print job halted by the interruption process is restarted;

wherein the command execution unit (a) judges whether the executed PDLcommand is a re-execution unnecessary command when each of the PDLcommands is executed, and (b) overwrites the executed PDL command storedin the PDL command memory unit with a NOP command indicating noprocessing to be done if the executed PDL command is determined to be are-execution unnecessary command;

wherein the print job control unit controls the command execution unitto start execution of a print job specified by the print job specifyinginformation at the head of the input job queue when the end of executionof a print job by the command execution unit is detected; and wherein,when an instruction for the interruption process is detected, the printjob control unit (a) registers the print job specifying informationwhich specifies the print job for the interruption process into the headof the input job queue, and (b) controls the command execution unit tohalt the print job being executed and start execution of the print jobfor the interruption process.

With the present invention, it is possible to achieve a relativelysimple structure and to improve performance during interruptionreinstatement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of this application can be obtained whenthe following detailed description is considered in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows the software composition for a printing control unitprovided in a printing device according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a summary cross-section of a printing device according to thefirst embodiment;

FIG. 3 shows the hardware composition for a printing control unitprovided in a printing device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 shows the composition of an operation panel;

FIG. 5A is a flowchart showing processes executed by the LAN controlunit and input job storage unit;

FIGS. 5B and 5C are flowcharts showing processes executed by the inputjob queue management unit;

FIG. 6 shows the data composition of the input job queue;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are flowcharts showing processes executed by the PDLinterpretation and execution unit;

FIG. 8 shows a portion of the data format of print data and a portion ofthe data format of print data replaced by an NOP command;

FIG. 9 shows a display panel display example;

FIG. 10 shows the software composition for a printing control unitprovided in a printing device according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 11 shows the data format of print data;

FIG. 12A is a flowchart showing processes executed by the LAN controlunit and input job storage unit;

FIG. 12B is a flowchart showing processes executed by the input jobstorage unit;

FIG. 13 shows in detail a process relating to the identifying flag andlength description unit;

FIGS. 14A and 14B are flowcharts showing a process executed by the inputjob queue management unit;

FIG. 15 shows the data composition of the input job queue;

FIGS. 16A, 16B and 16C are flowcharts showing processes executed by thePDL interpretation and execution unit;

FIG. 17 shows one portion of the data format of print data and a portionof the data format of print data replaced by an NOP command; and

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a process executed by a file completeremoval unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(Embodiment 1)

Below, the preferred embodiments of the present invention are describedwith reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a summary cross-section showing an example of a color printer(hereafter indicated as “printing device”) of electronic photo formatwith for example four-head tandem composition as a printing deviceexplaining the present embodiment.

As shown in this figure, an engine part of a printing device 1 iscomposed of an image creation unit 2, recording medium paper supply unit3 and a recording medium conveyor unit 4. The image creation unit 2 iscomposed of image creation units 2M, 2C, 2Y and 2K for magenta (M), cyan(C), yellow (Y) and black (K), which are arranged in succession alongthe paper conveyor direction, maintaining a predetermined spacing.

Each of the image creation units 2M, 2C, 2Y and 2K has a photosensitivedrum 5, a charged body 5 a positioned surrounding the photosensitivedrum 5, a print head (LED head) 5 b, a developer 5 c and a transfer unit5 d, and creates an image on paper in accordance with an electronicphotography process. The electronic photography process repeats thevarious processes of charging, exposure, developing, transferring andcleaning, and is a process for creating an image on a paper (recordingmedium). Specifically, a uniform electrical charge is applied to thesurface of the photosensitive drum 5 using electrification, anelectrostatic latent image is created on the surface of thephotosensitive drum 5 by exposure, a toner image is created inaccordance with the electrostatic latent image through developing, thetoner image is transferred to paper through transfer, and the tonerimage transferred to the paper is fused to the paper through a fusingprocess.

The recording medium paper supply unit 3 is composed of recording mediumpaper supply units 3 a to 3 e arranged in levels vertically. On theother hand, paper supplied from any of the recording medium paper supplyunits 3 a to 3 e is sent to the recording medium conveyor unit 4 via astandby roller 10. The recording medium conveyor unit 4 is composed of abelt-driven roller 11, a following roller 12 and a conveyor belt 13. Theconveyor belt 13 rotates as a result of drive power from the belt-drivenroller 11 and sends to the image creation unit 2 paper sent to theconveyor belt 13 with timing synchronized by the standby roller 10.

Corresponding toner is successively transferred by the above-describedimage creation units 2M, 2C, 2Y and 2K to the paper sent to the imagecreation unit 2. The toner image transferred to the paper is fused bythe fuser 15. Following this, the paper is sent to a paper dischargeunit 16.

The above-described units accomplish printing control that is optimumfor the paper by setting a printer engine operating mode such astransfer speed (conveyor speed), transfer bias and fusing temperaturebased on paper quality (for example, paper, OHP sheets, etc.), paperweight (for example, thin paper, regular paper, thick paper), paperlength (for example, long paper) and the like.

FIG. 3 shows the hardware composition for the printing control unit 17in the printing device 1 having the above composition. The printingcontrol unit 17 is composed of a LAN control circuit 18, a USB controlcircuit 19, a CPU 20, memory 21, nonvolatile memory 22, ROM 23, anengine control circuit 24, an operation panel control circuit 25 and ahard disk control circuit (hereafter indicated as the “HDD controlcircuit”) 28.

In addition, a printer engine 26 is connected to the engine controlcircuit 24, an operation panel 27 is connected to the operation panelcontrol circuit 25 and a hard disk 29 is connected to the HDD controlcircuit 28.

FIG. 4 shows the composition of the operation panel 27, and theoperation panel is composed of a display unit 27 a and a key unit 27 b.On the display unit 27 a, print job information for print executionunderway or print execution standby read from a below-described inputjob queue is displayed. In addition, operation signals supplied from thekey unit 27 b based on user operation are sent to the CPU 20 via theoperation panel control circuit 25.

On the other hand, FIG. 1 shows the software composition of theabove-described printing control unit 17, and functional units based onthe circuits shown in above-described FIG. 3 are described using relatednumbers. The printing device 1 (printing control unit 17) of the presentembodiment is connected to a client device (host equipment) 30 such as apersonal computer (PC) or the like via a LAN (Local Area Network). Theclient device 30 is composed, for example, of an application program, aprinter driver, a spooler and a LAN connection control unit.

The client device 30 converts print data created in accordance with theapplication program into intermediate data including the above-describedPDL command through the printer driver, retains this in the spooler andoutputs this to the printing device 1 via the LAN connection controlunit.

The print data output from the client device 30 is input to the printingdevice 1 via the above-described LAN control circuit 18 (LAN controlunit 18 a).

As noted above, the printing device 1 is equipped with an engine controlunit (printer engine control unit) 24 a corresponding to the enginecontrol circuit 24, an operation panel control unit 25 a correspondingto the operation panel control circuit 25 and an image memory 21 acorresponding to the memory 21. The printing device 1 is furtherequipped with a PDL interpretation/execution unit that controls the CPU20 through a program stored in the ROM 23, interprets the print data andexecutes printing; an input job storage unit 32 that executes an inputjob storage process; and an input job queue management unit 33 thataccomplishes processing of the input job queue 34.

In addition, the engine control unit 24 a corresponding to theabove-described engine control circuit 24 sets the printer engineoperation mode and the like for the printer engine 26 and executescontrol of a paper supply process, a transfer process for image datafrom the image memory 21 a and a paper discharge process. In addition,the engine control unit 24 a monitors the engine status intermittentlyfor a set interval, acquires from each paper feed section the status ofthe paper feed section and monitors the status of each paper feedsection. Information that can be obtained from the paper feed sectionsis information indicating for example whether or not a cassette isinstalled, the set condition or withdrawn condition of the cassette, thepresence or absence of paper, and paper size.

In addition, an input job queue 34 is composed on the above-describednonvolatile memory 22 or the hard disk 29. The composition of the USBcontrol circuit 19 shown in FIG. 3 is not particularly shown in FIG. 1.

In the above composition, the process action of this example is asdescribed below.

FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C are flowcharts explaining the process actions theLAN control unit 18 a, the input job storage unit 32 and the input jobqueue management unit 33 execute.

First, the LAN control unit 18 a, upon receiving print data output fromthe client device 30 (step (hereafter indicated by “S”) 1), buffers theprint data in a receiving buffer (S2). The receiving buffer is set forexample in a designated area of the above-described memory 21.

Next, the LAN control unit 18 a notifies the input job storage unit 32of print data input and wakes up the input job storage unit 32 (S3).

The input job storage unit 32 waiting to receive print data, uponreceiving notification from the LAN control unit 18 a as noted above,begins a process, retrieves the print data stored in the receivingbuffer, and successively writes to the above-described hard disk 29 inprint job units (S4, S5).

Following this, the input job storage unit 32 determines whether alldata from the print job output from the client device 30 and stored inthe receiving buffer has been written to the hard disk 29 (S6), anduntil all data from the print job has been written to the hard disk 29,repeats the above process (S6: No, S4-S6). Furthermore, when all writingprocesses have been completed for the print job (S6: Yes), the input jobstorage unit 32 outputs a print job registration request to the inputjob queue management unit 33 (S7). At this time, the file name of theprint job recorded on the hard disk 29 is transferred to the input jobqueue management unit 33. The print job file name is a unique nameautomatically created by the input job storage unit 32.

The input job queue management 33 waits in a request standby situation(S8), and when there is access from the input job storage unit 32,determines whether this is a registration request (S9). Here, when theinput job queue management unit 33 determines that this is aregistration request from the input job storage unit 32 (S9: Yes), theinput job queue management unit 33 receives the above print job filename information, sets this in the job file name of the input job queue34 and registers this to the end of the input job queue 34 (S10).

FIG. 6 shows the composition of data in the input job queue 34. Thestart queue pointer links to the first print job information 34-1. Inother words, the start queue pointer indicates the lead address of thefirst print job information 34-1. The next pointer of the first printjob information 34-1 indicates the next print job information 34-2, andthe next print job information 34-n is indicated in accordance with thedesignation of successive next pointers after that. In other words, thenext pointer of the print job information 34-i (where i is an integersatisfying 1≦i<n) indicates the lead address of the print jobinformation 34-(i+1). In each print job information 34-1 to 34-n, theabove-described print job file is recorded.

Next, the input job queue management unit 33 determines whether theabove-described print job file name has been registered to the head ofthe input job queue 34 (S11). When this has been registered to the headof the input job queue 34 (S11: Yes), the input job queue managementunit 33 instructs the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 to executethe print job (S12). At this time, the input job queue management unit33 transfers the print job file name information to the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are flowcharts explaining the process executed by thePDL interpretation/execution unit 31. The PDL interpretation/executionunit 31 waits in a request wait state (step (hereafter indicated by“ST”) 1) and when there is a print job execution order (ST2), the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 receives information about the printjob file name transferred from the input job queue management unit 33(ST3).

Next, the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 retrieves information onthe transferred print job file (ST4). Furthermore, the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 determines whether or not there isretrieved data (ST5). When the determination is that there is retrieveddata in the print job file in this first determination (ST5: Yes), thePDL interpretation/execution unit 31 accomplishes analysis of the PDLcommand stored in the print job file (ST6).

To start with, the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 executes thecommand process without change for PDL commands that do not create imagedata, for example PDL commands such as state of paper feed section,resolution and gradation information and like necessary whenaccomplishing the print process (ST7). In addition, the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 executes the command process withoutchange for PDL commands that create image data also (ST8).

FIG. 8 is a drawing showing a portion of the data format of the printdata, and is a drawing showing the composition of a command that createsimage data. Part (a) in FIG. 8 shows a portion of the data format of theprint data. As an example, an image drawing command is cited. Commandsthat create image data include image drawing commands; text drawingcommands; graphics drawing commands for lines, circles and the like; andcommands indicating coordinates for drawing. The PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 also executes this command processwithout change for PDL commands that create image data.

Next, the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 replaces theabove-described PDL command with a NOP (No Operation) command and writesthis back to the same print job file on the hard disk 29 (ST9). The PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 for example replaces “IM len” shown inpart (a) of FIG. 8 with the NOP command “NOP len2” showing in part (b)of the same figure (b-1), and writes this back to the same position ofthe same print job file on the hard disk 29. The PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 leaves the remaining parameter portionin the command that creates image data and the data portion (b-2)unchanged without changing such and without need to write this back. Inaddition, the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 writes back so as tonot exceed the size of the original PDL command. The PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 writes a PDL command shorter than theminimum size of the NOP command to the print job file, replacing theoriginal PDL command size of NOP data (one byte of data, with a value0x00).

Next in the case of a new page command, the PDL interpretation/executionunit 31 defines the image data being created in the image memory 21 a asprint data, instructs the engine control unit 24 a to execute a printprocess and simultaneously transfers the above-described information ofstate of paper feed section, resolution and gradation information asparameters (ST10). In addition, the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31replaces the new page command with a NOP command and writes this to thesame print job file on the hard disk 29 (ST11).

Next, the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 determines whether or notthe job interruption/halt flag is on (ST12), and if the jobinterruption/halt flag is not on (ST12: No), determines that not allretrieved data has been interpreted and repeats the above-describedprocesses (ST13: No; ST6-ST13).

Following this, when the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 hasinterpreted all of the retrieved data (ST13: Yes, ST5: No), notificationof the end of the print job is set to the input job queue managementunit 33 (ST14). Upon receiving notification of the end of the print jobfrom the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 (ST13: Yes), the input jobqueue management unit 33 detaches the head queue data of the input jobqueue 34 and makes the next queue data the head (S14). Furthermore, theinput job queue management unit 33 deletes the print job file of thecompleted print job (S15).

Furthermore, the input job queue management unit 33 determines whetheror not there is head queue data in the input job queue 34 (S16), andwhen there is queue data at the head of the input job queue 34 (S16:Yes), the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 is instructed to executea print job the same as before (S12) and the above-described printprocess of the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 is repeated.

On the other hand, during the above-described printing processes,information recorded in the input job queue 34 is displayed on theoperation panel 27. FIG. 9 shows an example of the print job informationrecorded in the input job queue 34 displayed on the operation panel 27.As shown in this figure, the print job name and user name of the jobbeing printed and the print job name and user name of the job in printexecution standby are displayed on the operation panel 27. In addition,in the case of states in which interruption printing is possible, an“interruption printing” mark 27 c indicating the possibility ofinterruption printing is displayed on the operation panel 27.

When an interruption key 27 d (substituted by the right arrow key (>)shown in FIG. 4) is pressed in the display state shown in theabove-described FIG. 9, the display of the print job name and user nameon print standby is reversed, as shown in this figure, and it ispossible to select the print job to accomplish interruption printing bythe up and down arrow keys (

) shown in the above-described FIG. 4 being pressed. In addition,determination of the selected print job can be made by the decision keyin the key unit 27 b shown in the above-described FIG. 4 being pressed.

When interruption printing is indicated by the above-describedoperation, an operation signal is supplied as an interruption requestfrom the operation panel 27 to the interruption control unit 33 underthe control of the operation panel control unit 25 a. When theabove-described interruption request is sent (S8, S9: No; S13: No; ST17:No; ST18: Yes), the input job queue management unit 33 receives theprint job name information for which the interruption process will beexecuted and searches the input job queue 34 (S19).

Furthermore, the input job queue management unit 33 determines whether aprint job name for which interruption printing was designated exists inthe input job queue 34, and when such does not exist (S20: No),“designated job has already finished printing” is displayed on theoperation panel (S31). When queue data with the print job name on whichan interruption instruction was accomplished exists (S20: Yes), theinput job queue management unit 33 determines whether the queue of thisprint job name is the head queue data (S21). When the queue data of thisprint job name is the head (S21: Yes), the input job queue managementunit 33 displays “designated job is currently printing” on the operationpanel because this job is currently printing, and because there is noparticular need to accomplish an interruption process, the currentprinting continues without change (S32).

When it is determined that the queue data of this print job name is notat the head (S21: No), the input job queue management unit 33 turns thejob interruption/halt request flag on (S22) and waits for interruptionof the job (S8).

When the job interruption/halt request flag has been turned on, the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31, which is engaged in a print process,initializes the internal state of the PDL interpretation/execution unit31 because in the above-described determination (ST12), the jobinterruption/halt request flag is on (ST12: Yes), and interrupts theprocess of the print job being executed (ST15). In addition, the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 notifies the input job queue managementunit 33 that the continuing print job process has been interrupted(ST16).

When this job interruption/halt notification is given (S17: Yes), theinput job queue management unit 33 turns the job interruption/haltrequest flag off (S23), temporarily removes the queue data of the printjob of the interruption request from the input job queue 34, and insertssuch at the head of the input job queue 34 (S24).

Following this, the input job queue management unit 33 determines thatqueue data is at the head of the input job queue 34 (S16: Yes), and theinput job queue management unit 33 instructs the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 to execute the print job, the same asabove (S12), and the print process is accomplished by theabove-described PDL interpretation/execution unit 31. The print processof this interruption printing is the same as described above and isexecuted by the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31.

Next, when the above-described interruption printing has concluded(ST13: Yes; ST14, S13: Yes), the input job queue management unit 33removes the queue data for which interruption printing was accomplishedat the head of the input job queue 34 and moves the next queue data tothe head (S14). Furthermore, the print job file of the concluded printjob is deleted (S15)

Furthermore, the input job queue management unit 33 determines whetherthere is head queue data in the input job queue 34 (S16), and theinformation of the print job file interrupted this time is recorded atthe head of the input job queue 34 and the below process isaccomplished.

That is to say, the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 first retrievesthe information of the print job file the same as above, accomplishesanalysis of the PDL command stored in the job file and accomplishes areinstatement print process. In this case, PDL commands such asinformation of state of paper feed section, resolution and gradationinformation and like necessary when accomplishing the print process areincluded in the print job file the same as described above, and commandprocessing is accomplished without change for this PDL command (ST7).

On the other hand, the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 skips oversize data designated by the parameters of the command, for NOP commandsshown in part b of FIG. 8 (ST17). Accordingly, the command to createimage data accomplished by the print process in the subsequent printprocesses and page update commands are overwritten by the NOP commandand skipped over.

That is to say, in the reinstatement/restart process for the print jobtemporarily interrupted, it is possible to skip the NOP command.Accordingly, pages printing of which was already output in thereinstatement/restart process of the print job are overwritten by theNOP command through the above-described process, and it is possible toskip printing data up to the page that has already been printed andoutput. For pages whose printing has not yet been output in the previousprinting process, the NOP command overwrite process is not conducted,and instead the above-described processes (ST8, ST10) are accomplished.

As described above, with the present embodiment it is possible toaccomplish a job reinstatement/restart process after an interruptionprinting process efficiently and in a short time. Accordingly, it ispossible to speed up the print job reinstatement process and markedlyimprove interruption reinstatement performance.

In addition, with the present embodiment, after a PDL command forcreating image data is interpreted and executed, this is converted to anNOP command and written to a print job file, but it would also be fineto not use an NOP command and instead overwrite the entire size of theoriginal PDL command with NOP data with a value of 0x00 for one bytedata and to write this to the print job file.

In this case, when printing has concluded, the PDL command for creatingimage data completely disappears and is entirely overwritten with NOPdata (value of 0x00) in the print job file on the hard disk.Furthermore, the file is deleted in this state. In other words,information relating to the contents of the printed material on theprint job file entirely disappears and the file is deleted in thisstate. Consequently, even if the hard disk is stolen and the print jobfile that was deleted is restored by some kind of method by a user withevil intent, information relating to the contents of the printedmaterial is completely gone, so there are absolutely no worries aboutinformation leaks.

Thus, in addition to the above-described speeding up of the print jobreinstatement process and improvement in interruption reinstatementperformance, there are also benefits in terms of security.

However, with the present embodiment, during the print process the sizeof the original PDL command is overwritten with NOP data and this iswritten to the print job file. Accordingly, in particular even imagedrawing commands with large volumes are overwritten with NOP dataincluding that image data, so this becomes overhead, with a highlikelihood that this will have an ill effect on printing speed.

Hence, a second embodiment is shown below which resolves this problem,maintains printing speed, speeds up the interruption reinstatementprocess and further ensures high security.

(Embodiment 2)

In recent years, the importance of security has been proclaimed, so inorder to prevent information leaks, it has become necessary not just todelete file management information but also to delete all files even inprinting devices. Removal of the file management information is deletionof information for accessing the file inside the hard disk deviceincluding intermediate data created during the course of the process andprint data in the course of the printing process. On the other hand,complete removal of the file is deletion of the file by accomplishing anoverwrite process using specific pattern data on the file in the harddisk device. Below, an example of the present invention applied to aprinting device with high security is described.

A second embodiment of the present invention is described below withreference to the drawings. The bulk of the composition of the printingdevice according to the second embodiment is the same as the compositionof the printing device according to the first embodiment. Accordingly,explanation of compositions similar to the first embodiment isappropriately omitted below.

FIG. 10 shows the software composition of the above-described printingcontrol unit 17, and functional units based on the circuits shown inabove-described FIG. 3 are described using related numbers. The printingdevice 1 (printing control unit 17) of the present embodiment isconnected to a client device (host equipment) 30 such as a personalcomputer (PC) or the like via a LAN (Local Area Network). The clientdevice 30 includes for example an application program 30 a, a printerdriver 30 b, a spooler 30 c and a LAN control unit 30 d.

The client device 30 converts print data created in accordance with theapplication program 30 a into intermediate data including theabove-described PDL command through the printer driver 30 b, retainsthis in the spooler 30 c and supplies this to the printing device 1 viathe LAN control unit 30 d.

The print data supplied from the client device 30 is supplied to theprinting device 1 via the above-described LAN control circuit 18 (LANcontrol unit 18 a).

As noted above, the printing device 1 is equipped with an engine controlunit 24 a corresponding to the engine control circuit 24, an operationpanel control unit 25 a corresponding to the operation panel controlcircuit 25 and an image memory 21 a corresponding to the memory 21. Theprinting device 1 is further equipped with a PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 that controls the CPU 20 through aprogram stored in the ROM 23 and interprets and executes print data; aninput job storage unit 32 that executes an input job storage process; aninput job queue management unit 33 that accomplishes input job queuemanagement; and a file complete removal unit 35 that removes a file byoverwritten all file data with certain pattern data.

In addition, the engine control unit 24 a corresponding to theabove-described engine control circuit 24 sets the printer engineoperation mode and the like for the printer engine 26 and executescontrol of a paper supply process, a transfer process for image datafrom the image memory 21 a and a paper discharge process. In addition,the engine control unit 24 a monitors the engine status intermittentlyfor a set interval, acquires from each paper feed section the status ofthe paper feed section and monitors the status of each paper feedsection. Information that can be obtained from the paper feed sectionsis information indicating for example whether or not a cassette isinstalled, the set condition or withdrawn condition of the cassette, thepresence or absence of paper, or paper size.

In addition, an input job queue 34 is composed on the above-describednonvolatile memory 22 or the hard disk 29. The composition of the USBcontrol circuit 19 shown in FIG. 3 is not particularly shown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 11 shows the data format of print data (print job) created by theprinter driver 30 and supplied to the printing device 1. The print datafirst includes an identifying flag and (&) length description D1 inwhich the identifying flag and length are described, a data descriptionarea D2, an identifying flag and length description D3, a datadescription area D4, an identifying flag and length description D5, adata description area D6, an identifying flag and length description D7,. . . , and an identifying flag and length description D99.

Here, the identifying flags described in the identifying flag and lengthdescriptions D1, D3, D5, D7 and so forth are such that for example “0”indicates a PDL command other than an image drawing command is describedin the next area, “1” indicates that an image drawing command (PDLcommand) is described in the next area, and “2” indicates thatinformation on user name and print job name is described in the nextarea. In addition, length indicates the length of information describedin the next area (D2, D4, D6 and so forth). The identifying flag “9”recorded in D99 expresses the end of the print job and in this case thelength is 0.

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 11, the identifying flag inthe first identifying flag and length description D1 is “2”, so the username and print job name are described in the next data description areaD2, and the identifying flag in the next identifying flag and lengthdescription D3 is “0”, so a PDL command other than an image drawingcommand is described in the next data description area D4. This PDLcommand is a PDL command for example for information on paper size,information on state of paper feed section or information on resolutionand gradation settings.

In addition, the identifying flag in the next identifying flag andlength description D5 is “1”, so an image drawing command is describedin the next data description area D6. This image drawing command iscomposed of an image data part and a control command part instructing todraw image data as-is on the printing device side, including dataalready developed into image data that should be printed on the clientdevice side.

Furthermore, lastly, the identifying flag in the identifying flag andlength description D99 is “9”, expressing the end of the print job.

In the above composition, the process action of this example is asdescribed below.

First, FIGS. 12A and 12B are flowcharts explaining the processes the LANcontrol unit 18 a and the input job storage unit 32 execute, and explainprocesses executed when print data having the above-described format isinput. First, the LAN control unit 18 a, upon receiving the print data(step (hereafter indicated by “SU”) 1), buffers the print data in areceiving buffer (SU2). The receiving buffer is set for example in adesignated area of the above-described memory 21.

Next, the LAN control unit 18 a notifies the input job storage unit 32of print data input and wakes up the input job storage unit 32 (SU3).

On the other hand, the input job storage unit 32, waiting to receiveprint data, through notification from the LAN control unit 18 a as notedabove begins a process and retrieves the print data stored in thereceiving buffer (SU4, SU5). Through this process, print data in theabove-described format is retrieved by the input job storage unit 32 andan identifying flag and length description analysis process is executed.

FIG. 13 explains in detail processes for the identifying flag and lengthdescriptions D3 and D5 and the data description areas D4 and D6.

First, the input job storage unit 32 retrieves the identifying flag andlength information included in the first identifying flag and lengthdescription D1 of the print data (SU6). In the example shown in FIG. 11,the identifying flag is “2” and the length is “len0”. In this case, thedetermination is “yes” (SU7: Yes), and the input job storage unit 32saves the user name and print job name information described in the datadescription area D2 following the identifying flag and lengthdescription D1 (SU8). Furthermore, the input job storage unit 32automatically creates and saves the print job file 1 and 2 names (SU9).These print job file 1 and 2 names are unique names.

On the other hand, when the identifying flag is not “2” in the abovedetermination (SU7), the input job storage unit 32 determines whetherthe identifying flag is “9” (SU10). When the identifying flag is “9”, inother words when the print job is finished, the input job storage unit32 outputs a job registration request to the input job queue managementunit 33 (SU11). The input job storage unit 32 at this time transfers tothe input job queue management unit 33 the saved user name, print jobname and job file 2 name.

When the identifying flag is not “9” in the above determination (SU10),the input job storage unit 32 determines further whether the identifyingflag is “0” (SU12). In the example shown in FIG. 13, “0” is set as theidentifying flag in the next identifying flag and length description D3(SU7: No; SU10: no; SU12: Yes), so a PDL command other than an imagedrawing command is retrieved from the data description area D4 followingthe identifying flag and length description D3. That is to say, thelength “len1” of PDL command is retrieved and this PDL command iswritten in print job file 1 (SU13).

This process is the process “a” shown in FIG. 13. In addition, theabove-described print job file 1 is a file built on the above-describedhard disk 29, and is a file that stores the above-described PDL commandand a below-described image drawing 2 command (internal command).

Accordingly, the PDL command is first written in a prescribed area ofthe print job file 1 by the above process (“b” shown in FIG. 13).

In the drawing, the region on the hard disk 29 where the print job file1 is stored is a memory region 29A, and the region on the hard disk 29where the print job file 2 is stored is a memory region 29B. In otherwords, the hard disk 29 includes the memory region 29A and the memoryregion 29B. The memory region 29A and the memory region 29B may also beprovided on separate hard disks.

Next, the input job storage unit 32 retrieves the information of theidentifying flag and length description D5 and determines theidentifying flag. In the example shown in FIG. 13, this identifying flagis “1”, so the image drawing command of the data description area D6following the identifying flag and length description D5 is retrieved(SU12: No).

Here, the format of the image drawing command and the image drawing 2command is composed of a command ID, data size, parameters, a partitioncode and data, and the image drawing command is composed of:

command ID: a command identifier (IM) indicating the image drawingcommand;

data size: the size (len) of the data part of the main command;

parameters: the parameters of the main command (x, y, Δx, Δy);

partition code: a code that partitions the parameters and data portion(*); and

data: the image data itself (size is indicated by the data size len).

In this case, the input job storage unit 32 appends the image data partof the image drawing command to the end of the print job file 2,overwrites the command parameter part with the image drawing 2 commandand writes to the print job file 1.

The image drawing 2 command is a structure comprising:

command ID: a command identifier (IM2) indicating the image drawing 2command;

data size: the size (ln2) of the data part of the main command;

parameters: the same as the parameters of the image drawing command (x,y, Δx, Δy);

partition code: a code that partitions the parameters and data portion(*); and

data: relative address (Loc) and image data size (len) on the print jobfile 2 indicating the image data itself (the size combining Loc and lenis the data size ln2).

The input job storage unit 32 first acquires the file size of the printjob file 2 and sets the relative address Loc (location) of the imagedrawing 2 command (SU14).

This print job file 2 is also a file built on the hard disk 29, and is afile that stores the image data part of the image drawing command. Thatis to say, because the image data is appended to the end of the printjob file 2, the file size prior to the appending is the relative addressLoc on the print job file 2 of this image data.

Next, the input job storage unit 32 stores at the end of the print jobfile 2 the image data part of the image drawing command, to a lengthdesignated by the data part size of the image drawing command (SU15).That is to say, the input job storage unit 32 appends image data (sizelen) from the position of the relative address Loc of the print job file2, as shown in part c of FIG. 13.

Next, the input job storage unit 32 converts the image drawing commandinto an image drawing 2 command that is an internal command. That is tosay, the input job storage unit 32 changes the command ID into the imagedrawing 2 (IM2) from the image drawing (IM), the parameters of the imagedrawing 2 are left as the original parameters, and the data portion ofthe image drawing 2 is made the relative address Loc and the image datasize len when the image data is appended to the print job file 2 (thesize of the data portion is the size ln2 of the data portion of the newimage drawing 2) (SU16). That is to say, the input job storage unit 32,as shown by “d” in FIG. 13, stores “IM2 ln2 x, y, Δx, Δy*”, which arethe parameters of the original image drawing command, along with thelen, which is the image data size, and the relative address Loc as dataof the image drawing 2 command.

Next, the input job storage unit 32 outputs the created image drawing 2command to the print job file 1 in place of the image drawing command(SU17).

Next, the input job storage unit 32 determines whether all print dataretrieved from the receiving buffer has been processed (SU18) andrepeats the above processes until all retrieved print data is processed(SU18: No; SU6-SU17). Furthermore, when all processes have beencompleted (S18: Yes), receipt of the print data is awaited (SU4).

Next, the actions of the input job queue management unit will beexplained with reference to FIGS. 14A and 14B.

The input job queue management unit 33 waits in a request wait state(step (hereafter indicated by “SW”) 1), and when a registration requestis output from the above-described input job storage unit 32, firstdetermines whether the request is a job registration request (SW2).Here, when it is determined that there is a job registration requestfrom the input job storage unit 32 (SW2: Yes), the input job queuemanagement unit 33 receives the information of the above-described username, print job name and print job file 1 and 2 names, creates new queuedata, sets the information on the received print job name in the queuedata and registers that queue data to the end of the input job queue(SW3).

FIG. 15 shows the composition of data in the input job queue 34. Thestart queue pointer links to the first print job information 34-1. Thatis to say, the start queue pointer indicates the address at the head ofthe first print job information 34-1. The next pointer of the firstprint job information 34-1 indicates the next print job information34-2, and the next print job information 34-n is indicated in accordancewith the designation of successive next pointers after that. That is tosay, the next pointer of the print job information 34-i (here, i is aninteger satisfying 1≦i<n) indicates the address at the head of print jobinformation 34-(i+1). In each print job information 34-1 to 34-n, theabove-described user name, print job name, print job file 1 and 2 namesare recorded.

Next, the input job queue management unit 33 determines whether theabove-described print job file has been registered to the head of theinput job queue 34 (SW4). In other words, the input job queue managementunit 33 determines whether a job has been introduced in a non-printingstatus. When this has been registered to the head of the input job queue34 (SW4: Yes), the input job queue management unit 33 instructs the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 to execute the print job (SW5). At thistime, the input job queue management unit 33 transfers information aboutthe print job files 1 and 2 names to the PDL interpretation/executionunit 31.

FIGS. 16A, 16B and 16C are flowcharts explaining the process executed bythe PDL interpretation/execution unit 31. Waiting in a request waitstate (step (hereafter indicated by “SX”) 1), when an instruction ofexecute a print job is received by the PDL interpretation/execution unit31 (SX2), the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 receives informationabout the print job file 1 and 2 names transferred from the input jobqueue management unit 33 (SX3).

Next, the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 first retrievesinformation on the print job file 1 (SX4). The PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 determines whether there is retrieveddata present (SX5). When there is retrieved data in the print job file 1(SX5: Yes), the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 accomplishesanalysis of the PDL command stored in the print job file 1 (SX6).

First, the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 accomplishes the commandprocess without change for PDL commands that do not create image data,for example PDL commands such as information on the state of paper feedsection and information on the resolution and gradation necessary whenaccomplishing the print process (SX7). In addition, the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 accomplishes the command processwithout change for PDL commands that create image data also (SX8).

The PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 retrieves information on therelative address Loc and the length len of the image drawing 2 commandfor the image drawing 2 command that is an internal command overwrittenin the input job storage unit (SX9), and retrieves data to theabove-described length len from the position of the relative address Locof the print job file 2 (SX10). This data is the image data portionstored in the print job file 2 of the hard disk 29 by theabove-described process, and the information of this image data portionis retrieved and image data is created based on the retrieved image data(SX11).

FIG. 17 is a drawing showing one part of the data format of the printdata, and is a drawing showing the composition of a command for creatingimage data. Part a in FIG. 17 shows one portion of the data format ofthe print data. As an example, the image drawing 2 command of theabove-described internal command can be cited. PDL commands that createimage data include image drawing 2 commands that are internal commands,and also text drawing commands, graphic drawing commands for lines orcircles and PDL commands designating coordinates for drawing. The PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 accomplishes the command processwithout change for these PDL commands that create image data.

When the respective processes for PDL commands that create image dataend, the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 next overwrites theabove-described PDL command with that size of NOP data (one byte ofdata, the value being 0x00), and writes this to the same print job file1 on the hard disk 29 (SX12).

If all of the retrieved data has not been interpreted (SX13: No), thePDL interpretation/execution unit 31 continues to execute PDL commandanalysis (SX6). In the case of an update page command, the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 defines the image data being created asprint data in the image memory 21 a, instructs the engine control unit24 a to conduct a print process and at the same time transfers asparameters information on the state of paper feed section, andinformation on the resolution and gradation (SX14). In addition, the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 overwrites the update page command withNOP data also, and writes this to the same print job file 1 on the harddisk 29 (SX15).

Next, the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 determines whether or notthe job interruption/halt flag is on (SX16), and if the jobinterruption/halt flag is not on (SX16: No), determines that not allretrieved data has been interpreted and repeats the above-describedprocesses (SX13: No; SX6-SX13).

Following this, when the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 hasinterpreted all of the retrieved data (SX13: Yes, SX5: No), notificationof the end of the print job is set to the input job queue managementunit 33 (SX20). Upon receiving notification of the end of the print jobfrom the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 (SW6: Yes), the input jobqueue management unit 33 detaches the head queue data of the input jobqueue 34 and makes the next queue data the head (SW7). Furthermore, theinput job queue management unit 33 deletes the print job file of thecompleted print job, moves the print job file 2 to a file completeremoval request directory and outputs a file complete removal request tothe file complete removal (elimination) unit 35 (SW8, WS9).

As shown in FIG. 18, the file complete removal unit 35 is activated at aset time interval or when a file complete removal request is output fromthe input job queue management unit 33 (SY1, SY2), determines whetherprinting is currently underway (SY3) and if printing is not currentlyunderway (SY3: No), checks whether there is a complete removal requestfile in the complete removal request directory (SY4). When there is(SY4: Yes), the file complete removal unit 35 acquires the size of thatrequested file, overwrites that size of the file with data of a certainpattern (ex., 0x00) and following this deletes the file (SY5, SY6). Inother words, when the printing device is not printing, file removal isaccomplished by completely deleting file data.

Furthermore, the input job queue management unit 33 determines whetherthere is head queue data in the input job queue 34 (SW10), and whenthere is queue data at the head of the input job queue 34 (SW10: Yes),the input job queue management unit 33 instructs the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 to execute a print job (SW5) and theprint process by the above-described PDL interpretation/execution unit31 is repeated.

On the other hand, during the above-described print process, print jobinformation recorded in the above-described input job queue 34 isdisplayed on the operation panel 27 under control by the operation panelcontrol unit 25 a. FIG. 9 shows an example of the print job informationrecorded in the input job queue 34 displayed on the operation panel 27.As shown in this figure, the print job name and user name of the jobbeing printed and the print job name and user name of the job in printexecution standby are displayed on the operation panel 27. In addition,in the case of states in which interruption printing is possible, an“interruption printing” mark 27 c indicating the possibility ofinterruption printing is displayed on the operation panel 27.

In the above-described display, the operation panel control unit 25 aoutputs a user name and print job name list acquisition request to theinput job queue management unit 33 and displays the user name and printjob name on the operation panel 27 based on the acquired list.

When there is a user name and print job name list acquisition request(SW121: Yes), the input job queue management unit 33 follows the queuedata from the head queue data of the input job queue 34, retrieves theuser name and print job name in the input job queue 34 and creates alist (SW22). Furthermore, the input job queue management unit 33accomplishes a response to the above-described list (SW23).

When an interruption key 27 d (substituted by the right arrow key (>)shown in FIG. 4) is pressed in the display state shown in theabove-described FIG. 9, the display of the print job name and user nameon print standby is reversed, as shown in this figure, and it ispossible to select the print job to accomplish interruption printing bythe up and down arrow keys (

) shown in the above-described FIG. 4 being pressed. In addition,determination of the selected print job can be made by the decision keyin the key unit 27 b shown in the above-described FIG. 4 being pressed.

When interruption printing is indicated by the above-describedoperation, an operation signal is supplied as an interruption requestfrom the operation panel 27 to the interruption control unit 33 underthe control of the operation panel control unit 25 a. When theabove-described interruption request is sent (SW1 is “request present”;SW2: No; SW6: No; SW11: No; SW12: Yes), the input job queue managementunit 33 receives the print job name information for which theinterruption process will be executed and searches the input job queue34 (SW13).

Furthermore, the input job queue management unit 33 determines whether aprint job name for which interruption printing was designated exists inthe input job queue 34, and when such does not exist (SW14: No),“designated job has already finished printing” is displayed on theoperation panel (SW19). When queue data with the print job name on whichan interruption instruction was accomplished exists (SW14: Yes), theinput job queue management unit 33 determines whether the queue of thisprint job name is the head queue data (SW15). When the queue data ofthis print job name is the head (SW15: Yes), the input job queuemanagement unit 33 displays “designated job is currently printing” onthe operation panel because this job is currently printing, and becausethere is no particular need to accomplish an interruption process, thecurrent printing continues without change (SW20).

When it is determined that the queue data of this print job name is notat the head (SW15: No), the input job queue management unit 33 turns thejob interruption/halt request flag on (SW16) and waits for interruptionof the job (SW1).

When the job interruption/halt request flag has been turned on, the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31, which is engaged in a print process,initializes the internal state of the PDL interpretation/execution unit31 because in the above-described determination (SX16), the jobinterruption/halt request flag is on (SX16: Yes), and interrupts theprocess of the print job being executed (SX17). In addition, the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 notifies the input job queue managementunit 33 that the continuing print job process has been interrupted(SX18).

When this job interruption/halt notification is given (SW11: Yes), theinput job queue management unit 33 turns the job interruption/haltrequest flag off (SW17), temporarily removes the queue data of the printjob of the interruption request from the input job queue 34, and insertssuch at the head of the input job queue 34 (SW18).

Following this, the input job queue management unit 33 determines thatqueue data is at the head of the input job queue 34 (SW10: Yes), and theinput job queue management unit 33 instructs the PDLinterpretation/execution unit 31 to execute the print job, the same asabove (SW5), and the print process is accomplished by theabove-described PDL interpretation/execution unit 31. The print processof this interruption printing is the same as described above and isexecuted by the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31.

Next, when the above-described interruption printing has concluded(SX13: Yes; SX20, SW6: Yes), the input job queue management unit 33removes the queue data for which interruption printing was accomplishedat the head of the input job queue 34 and moves the next queue data tothe head (SW7). Furthermore, the input job queue management unit 33deletes the print job file 1 of the concluded print job, moves the printjob file 2 to the file complete removal request directory and outputs afile complete removal request to the file complete removal unit (SW8,SW9). Furthermore, the input job queue management unit 33 determineswhether there is head queue data in the input job queue 34 (SW10), andthe information of the print job file interrupted this time is recordedat the head of the input job queue 34 and the below process isaccomplished.

That is to say, the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 first retrievesthe information of the print job file 1 from the file head of the sameas above, accomplishes analysis of the PDL command stored in the jobfile 1 and accomplishes a reinstatement print process. In this case, PDLcommands such as information of state of paper feed section, resolutionand gradation information and like necessary when accomplishing theprint process are included in the print job file 1 the same as describedabove, and the PDL interpretation/execution unit 31 accomplishes commandprocessing without change for this PDL command (SX7).

On the other hand, NOP data shown in part b of FIG. 8 is skipped over(SX19). Accordingly, the command to create image data accomplished bythe print process in the subsequent print processes and page updatecommands are overwritten by the NOP command and skipped over.

That is to say, for pages printing of which was already output in thereinstatement/restart process for the print job temporarily interrupted,NOP data is overwritten by the above-described process, it is possibleto skip over NOP data and moreover, absolutely no access is needed tothe print job file 2 in which image data with large capacity isrecorded. For pages whose printing has not yet been output in theprevious printing process, the NOP command overwrite process is notconducted, and instead the above-described processes (SX8, SX9, SX14)are accomplished.

As described above, with the present embodiment it is possible toaccomplish a job reinstatement/restart process after an interruptionprinting process efficiently and in a short time. Accordingly, it ispossible to speed up the print job reinstatement process and markedlyimprove interruption reinstatement performance.

In addition, PDL commands for creating image data are replaced by NOPdata whose value is 0x00, and this is written to the print job file 1,and when printing has ended, PDL commands for creating image data arecompletely gone in the print job file 1 on the hard disk, all havingbeen replaced by NOP data (whose value is 0x00). Furthermore, the fileis deleted in this state. In other words, information relating tocontent of printed material other than image data has completelydisappeared and in this state the file is deleted. In addition, for theprint job file 2, all data is overwritten with the value 0x00 whenprinting is not being conducted and then the file is deleted, so thecontents of the image data also are erased and the contents of theprinted material completely disappears with no trace. Consequently, evenif the hard disk is stolen and the print job file that was deleted isrestored by some kind of method by a user with evil intent, informationrelating to the contents of the printed material is completely gone, sothere are absolutely no worries about information leaks.

In addition, considerable time is not taken even in overwriting thesmall-volume print job file 1 with NOP data, so there is virtually noeffect on performance, and because the large-volume print job file 2 iscompletely removed when print processes are not being conducted, thereis virtually no performance-related effect on the print process. In thismanner, in addition to speeding up the above-described print jobreinstatement process and improving interruption reinstatementperformance, there are benefits in terms of security as well.

(Variations)

Above, a number of embodiments of the present invention were described,but the scope of the present invention is not limited to theseembodiments. That is to say, embodiments in which one skilled in the arthas replaced various elements in these embodiments with equivalent onesare also included in the scope of the present invention.

In the above-described embodiments, a print job was specified byoperating the operation panel 27 and accomplishing an interruptionprocess, but the received print job itself may be given priority. Forexample, it would be fine to designate a priority such as emergency ornormal or to accomplish specification of priority order and toaccomplish a process similar to that described above.

In this case, a description related to the priority level is made at thehead of the print job so the priority level can be recognized, and inthe input job storage unit 32, after this priority level is recognizedand the print job is stored, an interruption printing request is outputfor print jobs having high priority levels. When there is aninterruption printing request, interruption/halting of the print jobcurrently being interpreted and printed is accomplished, the print jobof the recording request for interruption printing is inserted at thehead of the input job queue and control is performed so that this printjob is interpreted and executed. In addition, in the explanation of theabove-described embodiments, an example of a color printer as theprinting device was explained, but the present invention can besimilarly implemented even for a multi-function printer, for example anMFP or the like.

Naturally, the present invention can be realized by a printing deviceprovided with functions and composition similar to the printing deviceof the above-described embodiments, and by applying a program to anexisting printing device, it is possible to cause this to function as aprinting device according to the present invention. In this case, it ispossible to cause this to function as a printing device according to thepresent invention by causing a program for realizing the same functionsas the above-described printing device to be executed on the computer(CPU or other control unit) of a printing device provided with the samecomposition as the printing device illustrated in the above-describedembodiments. The method of applying such a program is arbitrary, and forexample this program can be applied by storing such on a memory mediumsuch as a CD-ROM, memory card or the like, or can be applied via acommunications medium such as the Internet or the like.

Having described and illustrated the principles of this application byreference to one (or more) preferred embodiments, it should be apparentthat the preferred embodiments may be modified in arrangement and detailwithout departing from the principles disclosed herein and that it isintended that the application be construed as including all suchmodifications and variations insofar as they come within the spirit andscope of the subject matter disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A printing device that executes a print job basedon print data supplied from electronic equipment connected via anetwork, and permits interruption by another print job during executionof the supplied print job, the printing device comprising: a receiverwhich receives the print data which includes a series of PDL commandsfrom the electronic equipment; a PDL command registration unit whichregisters the series of PDL commands included in the received print datainto a PDL command memory unit; a print job control unit which, when theprint data is received, registers print job specifying information thatspecifies the print job represented by the received print data to theend of an input job queue; and a command execution unit which executesthe print job by successively executing the series of PDL commandsstored in the PDL command memory unit from the head; wherein each of theseries of PDL commands can be classified as either (a) a re-executionnecessary command that is necessary to execute again when a print jobhalted by the interruption process is restarted, or (b) a re-executionunnecessary command that is unnecessary to execute again when a printjob halted by the interruption process is restarted; wherein the commandexecution unit (a) judges whether the executed PDL command is are-execution unnecessary command when each of the PDL commands isexecuted, and (b) overwrites the executed PDL command stored in the PDLcommand memory unit with a NOP command indicating no processing to bedone if the executed PDL command is determined to be a re-executionunnecessary command; wherein the print job control unit controls thecommand execution unit to start execution of a print job specified bythe print job specifying information at the head of the input job queuewhen the end of execution of a print job by the command execution unitis detected; and wherein, when an instruction for the interruptionprocess is detected, the print job control unit (a) registers the printjob specifying information which specifies the print job for theinterruption process into the head of the input job queue, and (b)controls the command execution unit to halt the print job being executedand start execution of the print job for the interruption process. 2.The printing device according to claim 1, wherein, when an instructionfor an interruption process is detected, the print job control unit: (a)waits until a PDL command of a new page command is executed by thecommand execution unit, (b) registers the print job specifyinginformation which specifies the print job for the interruption processinto the head of the input job queue, and (c) controls the commandexecution unit to halt the print job being executed and start executionof the print job for the interruption process.
 3. The printing deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the interruption process is a process forimmediately executing a print job represented by newly received printdata.
 4. The printing device according to claim 1, wherein theinterruption process is a process for immediately executing a print jobspecified by the print job specifying information already registered inthe input job queue.
 5. The print device according to claim 1, wherein:the re-execution necessary command contains a PDL command fordesignating control information for controlling actions of the printingdevice, and the re-execution unnecessary command contains a PDL commandfor instructing image drawing.
 6. The printing device according to claim1, wherein: the re-execution unnecessary command contains an imagedrawing command including a command part for instructing image drawing,and a data part expressing image data; the PDL command memory unitcomprises a command memory unit for storing commands and an image datamemory unit for storing image data; the PDL registration unit: (a)converts the command part of the image drawing command into an internalcommand, registers the internal command into the command memory unit,and registers the image data part of the image drawing command into theimage data memory unit, when the PDL command included in the receivedprint data is an image drawing command; and (b) registers the PDLcommand into the command memory unit, when the PDL command included inthe received print data is not an image drawing command; the commandexecution unit, when the internal command is executed, (a) executesdrawing of an image based on the internal command stored in the commandmemory unit and the image data registered in the image data memory unit,and (b) after execution of the internal command, overwrites the internalcommand in the command memory unit with the internal-command-sized NOPdata indicating no process to be accomplished; and the command executionunit, when the re-execution unnecessary command other than the internalcommand is executed, (a) executes the re-execution unnecessary command,and (b) after execution of the re-execution unnecessary command,overwrites the command in the command memory unit with the command-sizedNOP data.
 7. The printing device according to claim 6, wherein theinternal command includes information specifying the length and relativeaddress of image data registered in the image data memory unit.
 8. Theprinting device according to claim 6, further comprising an image dataremoval unit for replacing image data stored in the image data memoryunit with predetermined data after execution of the internal command. 9.The printing device according to claim 1, further comprising: a displayunit that (a) displays job information showing a currently-executedprint process and at least one waiting-state print process both beingregistered in the input job queue, and (b) identifiably displaysselected job information out of the job information showing at least onewaiting-state print process; and a key unit that receives an instructionto switch the selected job information and an interruption instructionto interrupt a print process from a user; wherein the print job controlunit halts execution of the currently-executed print process andexecutes the interruption printing process shown by the selected jobinformation in response to the interruption instruction received by thekey unit.
 10. The printing device according to claim 9, wherein the jobinformation displayed on the display unit includes a user name.
 11. Theprinting device according to claim 9, wherein the job informationdisplayed on the display unit includes a job name.
 12. A printingcontrol method executed by a printing device that executes a print jobbased on print data supplied from electronic equipment connected via anetwork, and permits an interruption process by another print job duringexecution of the supplied print job, the printing control methodcomprising: a receiver step which receives the print data which includesa series of PDL commands from the electronic equipment; a PDL commandregistration step which reregisters the series of PDL commands includedin the received print data into a PDL command memory unit; a print jobcontrol step which, when the print data is received, registers print jobspecifying information that specifies the print job represented by thereceived print data to the end of an input job queue; and a commandexecution step which executes the print job by successively executingthe series of PDL commands stored in the PDL command memory unit fromthe head; wherein each of the series of PDL commands can be classifiedas either (a) a re-execution necessary command that is necessary toexecute again when a print job halted by the interruption process isrestarted, or (b) a re-execution unnecessary command that is unnecessaryto execute again when a print job halted by the interruption process isrestarted; wherein the command execution step (a) judges whether theexecuted PDL command is a re-execution unnecessary command when each ofthe PDL commands is executed, and (b) overwrites the executed PDLcommand stored in the PDL command memory unit with a NOP commandindicating no processing to be done if the executed PDL command isdetermined to be a re-execution unnecessary command; wherein the printjob control step controls to start execution of a print job specified bythe print job specifying information at the head of the input job queuewhen the end of execution of a print job by the command execution stepis detected; and wherein, when an instruction for the interruptionprocess is detected, the print job control step (a) registers the printjob specifying information which specifies the print job for theinterruption process into the head of the input job queue, and (b)controls to halt the print job being executed and start execution of theprint job for the interruption process.
 13. The printing control methodaccording to claim 12, further comprising: a display step that (a)displays job information showing a currently-executed print process andat least one waiting-state print process both being registered in theinput job queue, and (b) identifiably displays selected job informationout of the job information showing at least one waiting-state printprocess; a key receiving step which receives an instruction to switchthe selected job information and an interruption instruction tointerrupt a print process from a user; and an interruption control stepwhich halts execution of the currently-executed print process andexecutes the interruption printing process shown by the selected jobinformation in response to the interruption instruction received by thekey receiving step.
 14. The printing control method according to claim13, wherein the job information displayed by the display step includes auser name.
 15. The printing control method according to claim 13,wherein the job information displayed by the display step includes a jobname.
 16. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having aprogram stored thereon for controlling a control unit of a printingdevice that executes a print job based on print data supplied fromelectronic equipment connected via a network, and permits interruptionby another print job during execution of the supplied print job, whereinthe program controls the control unit to function as: a receiver whichreceives the print data which includes a series of PDL commands from theelectronic equipment; a PDL command registration unit which registersthe series of PDL commands included in the received print data into aPDL command memory unit; a print job control unit which, when the printdata is received, registers print job specifying information thatspecifies the print job represented by the received print data to theend of an input job queue; and a command execution unit which executesthe print job by successively executing the series of PDL commandsstored in the PDL command memory unit from the head; wherein each of theseries of PDL commands can be classified as either (a) a re-executionnecessary command that is necessary to execute again when a print jobhalted by the interruption process is restarted, or (b) a re-executionunnecessary command that is unnecessary to execute again when a printjob halted by the interruption process is restarted; wherein the commandexecution unit (a) judges whether the executed PDL command is are-execution unnecessary command when each of the PDL commands isexecuted, and (b) overwrites the executed PDL command stored in the PDLcommand memory unit with a NOP command indicating no processing to bedone if the executed PDL command is determined to be a re-executionunnecessary command; wherein the print job control unit controls thecommand execution unit to start execution of a print job specified bythe print job specifying information at the head of the input job queuewhen the end of execution of a print job by the command execution unitis detected; and wherein, when an instruction for the interruptionprocess is detected, the print job control unit (a) registers the printjob specifying information which specifies the print job for theinterruption process into the head of the input job queue, and (b)controls the command execution unit to halt the print job being executedand start execution of the print job for the interruption process. 17.The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim16, wherein the program controls the control unit to further functionas: a display unit that (a) displays job information showing acurrently-executed print process and at least one waiting-state printprocess both being registered in the input job queue, and (b)identifiably displays selected job information out of the jobinformation showing at least one waiting-state print process; and a keyunit that receives an instruction to switch the selected job informationand an interruption instruction to interrupt a print process from auser; wherein the print job control unit halts execution of thecurrently-executed print process and executes the interruption printingprocess shown by the selected job information in response to theinterruption instruction received by the key unit.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 17,wherein the job information displayed on the display unit includes auser name.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable recording mediumaccording to claim 17, wherein the job information displayed on thedisplay unit includes a job name.